MSIF grants £500,000 to MS organisations through the COVID-19 Response Initiative

2020 was a tough year for everyone, and for many people living with MS it presented additional fears and stress. MS organisations around the world were inundated with extra calls. Organisations worked overtime to provide the much-needed information, support and reassurance to their MS communities.

At the same time, planned income was disappearing because of cancelled events. A reduction in regular giving and large donations put pressure on organisations already stretched to capacity.

As the scale of the problem became apparent, MSIF contacted healthcare companies working in MS to seek funding to help its members bridge the gap caused by this emergency. The response was very positive and many companies made a huge effort to find ways to help. MSIF secured over £500,000 of exceptional funding from Biogen, Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Coloplast to help members of MSIF and the European MS Platform (EMSP) who had taken a financial hit.

We are delighted to announce that the panel has awarded over £500,000 to 21 organisations across the globe who all met the criteria for support.

We are very proud to help our members in this way, and are confident it will directly benefit people with MS in those countries. You can see the full list of grantees here, along with the amounts granted and donors. We aim to share stories of how the grants were used at the end of this year.